The field of the invention is medical imaging systems, and particularly, the hardware and software architecture of such systems.
There are many types of medical imaging systems. The primary distinction between the different systems is the medical imaging modality that is used, such as, x-ray, magnetic resonance, ultrasound or nuclear. In addition, a broad range of capabilities and features are typically offered in each imaging modality. For example, a magnetic resonance imaging (xe2x80x9cMRIxe2x80x9d) system may be offered with a range of polarizing magnetic strengths and configurations and with a range of different optional features such as magnetic resonance angiography (xe2x80x9cMRAxe2x80x9d), cardiac imaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging (xe2x80x9cfMRIxe2x80x9d).
Despite the many differences, medical imaging systems have a number of basic functions in common. All medical imaging systems include an operator interface which enables a particular image acquisition to be prescribed, a data acquisition apparatus which uses one of the imaging modalities to acquire data from the subject, an image reconstruction processor for reconstructing an image using acquired data, and storage apparatus for storing images and associated patient information. Typically, hardware is designed to carry out these functions and software is designed and written for each hardware configuration. When the hardware configuration is changed to take advantage of new concepts or new products, such as faster and more powerful microprocessors, much, if not all, of the software must be rewritten.
Another challenge to the designer of medical imaging equipment is the rapid improvements that are being made in the underlying science for each imaging modality. In magnetic resonance imaging, for example, new pulse sequences and related data acquisition methods are continuously being invented. To add such improvements to an existing MRI system typically requires the rewriting of system software as well as the addition of new, application specific software. The extent of this undertaking depends on the particular improvement being made and the nature of the particular system software architecture in place.
The present invention is a system architecture for a medical imaging system, and particularly, a new and improved software architecture for such systems. The architecture includes: a workstation that is programmed in a hardware independent language to provide an operator interface for receiving data which prescribes an image to be acquired, to produce an image acquisition description comprised of components which determine how the imaging system is to be operated to acquire image data, and to produce a data processing description comprised of components which determine how the acquired image data is processed to reconstruct an image; and a plurality of servers coupled to the workstation and being operable to receive the descriptions downloaded from the workstation and perform the indicated operations and processing. By employing a hardware independent language such as Java(trademark), the workstation hardware may be changed with little or no changes to the software responsible for producing the descriptions. Similarly, much of the software employed by the servers to perform the downloaded descriptions may be machine independent.
Another aspect of the present invention is the manner in which the scan descriptions are downloaded to the servers. The workstation includes a serialization mechanism which sends the descriptions as a stream of components to their respective servers, and a deserialization mechanism at each server rebuilds the description so that it can direct the operation of the server during the scan.